Lycée Français de Shanghai

Redefining Lycée Français' visual identity & branding

The back story

Lycée Français, a Shanghai-based private certified educational institution established in 1996, called on us to redefine their branding. Creating a brand new logo was the focal point of our partnership as Lycée Français desired a logo that represented not only the institution's values, but also the link between China and France. In order to get a better understanding of the institution's core values and so as not to misunderstand their branding wishes, we organized various workshops with the school's teachers & pupils and kept Lycée Français in the loop every step of the way.

What we did

Although Lycée Français' existing logo certainly underlined the fact that it was a French school in China, it unfortunately lacked consistency regarding the institution's core values. We therefore decided to design a new logo that would emphasize the school's elegance without losing the reference to the connection it promotes between France and China. With that goal in mind, we tested several design possibilities before settling on a graceful logo combining the Paris Eiffel Tower and the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower.

Consistency

The key to effective branding is consistency and repetition. We redesigned the school's digital and print marketing materials, including business cards, envelopes and letterheads, to ensure uniformization on all fronts. In order to ensure that the school's branding would remain consistent even after our collaboration, we provided Lycée Francais with a branding manual in which we defined the style guidelines they should follow.

Workshops

The best way to understand an organization's core values is to get to know the people who are part of it. That's why we involved the entire school in the redefinition of its' branding through the organization of workshops. These workshops allowed us to get a sense for the school which in turn provided us with a sufficiently strong understanding to create a design that would portray the school's culture.